


This Song Is Still For You

by lostinthesounds



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Love Confessions, after 1x04, after homecoming!, he's not afraid of his feelings, like the season finale, maybe ricky just doesn't know how to communicate his feelings, only of losing nini like his mom, ricky confronts ej after finding out he stole her phone, ricky realizes he's always loved nini, this literally happens outside the school, we ship ricky and nini in this house, young love and denial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21611746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostinthesounds/pseuds/lostinthesounds
Summary: Ricky didn't want to stand there awkwardly while she was beginning to confide in him like the friends they were, so he decides to forget about the cold and the gravel that would get stuck beneath his footsteps when he walked over to Nini and sat beside her. When he does, Nini sits up straighter and runs her hands repeatedly on the front of her dress since he was so close to her. It would be normal for any other couple, to be so close where thighs and shoulders touch, but not for two teenagers who almost kissed the week before.He tries to cheer her up, "You're a great girl, and he knows that."(EJ wasn't and will never be wrong about that.)
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 8
Kudos: 284





	This Song Is Still For You

**Author's Note:**

> y’all. I shamelessly have fallen in love with high school musical: the musical, the series on disney+ and it’s like a guilty pleasure. (Find me @needymorley on twitter!!) 
> 
> I couldn’t help myself. I know I’ve strayed away from the angst heavy, the 100 and lucifer fanfic writing for now but I couldn’t help myself!! please enjoy and I hope to write these characters soon again <3

If anyone would've asked Ricky to attend homecoming a month ago, he would walk away from the person before they even got a chance to finish their sentence. He would've said an immediate no, because not only was he in the process of losing his mother because of (in his opinion, _petty_ ) excuses to a one bedroom apartment in Chicago, but he didn't even have anyone to go with. 

Nini had been the one to surprise him on the first day of school that she fell in love over the summer, over the last two months when he thought they were taking a break. He was too busy trying to pretend like his father's quiet neglect wasn't becoming a burden, too busy trying to forget the way his heart broke at it's seams over the news of his girlfriend, now _ex_ , being with someone else. Ricky never thought that she would go for a guy like EJ, although it was maybe his previous hatred for musicals that made him envy the perfect guy. 

A guy who doesn't know how to confess his feelings to a girl he knew he loved. 

A guy who doesn't have to worry about missing his mother around, or being told not to call her when dinner was hard to manage. 

A guy who didn't have to watch his girlfriend attached to another guy's hip because they're newly together, or convince himself that she would move on so quickly just because of a miscommunication. 

Therefore, he was single and miserable. To think he was in this situation because of a (he could admit that it was a vague) miscommunication, because he wasn't ready to admit how he truly felt about Nini. It would be pointless now in that moment, with his head hung low in the back of the gymnasium with the music blasting next to him, to know that if he had the chance now to tell Nini--he wouldn't hold back. He wouldn't be afraid. Ricky would stand tall, with his shoulders back and straight, that he was afraid of falling in love at such a young age. A few months ago, he wasn't even sure if the rapid beating of his heart was meant for when Nini walked into a room and looked for him with determination. 

Ricky didn't want to think that whatever he felt towards Nini, would be fake or exaggerated because he was only sixteen. 

Because what they felt, what Nini sang in the one song he wrote for him, it was all _real_. Unlike his parents, who finally broke into a realization that they couldn't stay together after eighteen long years because their love can just vanish. Ricky wanted to be different, yet he couldn't even tell his first love that he loved her back. 

Ricky groaned loudly, knowing the music from the speakers would drown the sound out. His hands are shoved deep into the pockets of his dress pants, as he spots the girl of his thoughts at the other end of the gym near the front doors. He doesn't see Kourtney right away, but sees her walk to Nini with two glasses of lemonade. The smile on her face is forced, he would always be able to tell when she was feeling upset and it just made him want to stride over there sneakily and pull her aside to ask her what was wrong. The desire was strong, being that even with all the pain they've put each other through in the last month, it was the last thing he would've expected to be comforted by Nini in her house when he needed her the most. His mother was trying her best to stay composed, to not make it seem like moving to another state was something to be upset over as her son, and Ricky could feel himself break apart with the weight of keeping it together. 

He was struggling to cope with the thought of losing his mom, still trying to deal with getting to practice on time with the chaos in his life. It seemed like nothing ever seemed to work out for him anymore, and when he thought of texting one of Nini's mothers in the middle of the afternoon asking if he would stay the night, it was almost too good to be true. Then, he found out that Nini didn't know and didn't even want him there when she was having a bad day (something he would've asked her about if neither of them bothered to inch closer to kiss) but he knew that she cared about him still. 

Because, he never stopped caring about her. 

And he would've walked over to her to express his concern, but he stays frozen in place when he notices EJ making his way over instead. Ricky doesn't like the guy anyways, so he doesn't feel bad when he begins to walk in their direction as he navigates his way through the small crowd of students. He passed Gina, who was distraught and running her hands in her hair with a loud sigh as she walked away from the dance floor entirely. _Weird_. It was his first thought, as he manages to get closer until he can pretend like he was getting a drink for himself rather than listen in on the conversation. 

" _Hey Nini, can we please talk_?" It was EJ, his voice tight and strained. Like he was begging. 

Kourtney spoke next, " _She said she was done with you_." and from the corner of his eye he could see her step in the middle of the two. 

" _Without giving me a chance to explain myself, and I just really_ -"

Nini dismisses the comment with a scoff, " _First you steal my phone and delete my messages, then you come to the dance with Gina? The girl who's been wanting my spot since we auditioned. Can you leave, EJ? I'm enjoying myself without you._ " 

Ricky's eyes go wide at that comment, but he hides it behind his cup when he takes a sip. He's pretty sure that everybody hears the slam of the gymnasium door when EJ leaves the room, and nothing was stopping him from wanting answers that Nini didn't want to have. She was _hurt_ by someone, someone who claimed to love her after knowing her for only the summer. _Hurt_ by someone who made her happy when he was too stupid in denial, and he couldn't let the guy get away without an explanation. 

In the end, he doesn't bother looking back at Nini's shocked expression when he runs past her to chase EJ out of the building with a frown on his face. 

It was only logical. 

* * *

"EJ!" Ricky shouted, pushing past the open door to follow him outside. "Is it true?" 

"Of course, it's you." EJ turned around swiftly, brows furrowed together because he didn't want to talk to anyone right now. Especially, the guy who keeps trying to steal his girlfriend (even if it's complicated, he's sure that Nini just needed time to cool off.) and he really didn't want to get angry over a simple obstacle. "How many times do I have to tell you to leave Nini and me alone?" 

Ricky couldn't control the snicker that came out of his mouth, knowing that Nini was the one who felt alone right now. He couldn't just abandon her again, not when she felt so betrayed by EJ. He may not like the guy, but Nini did, and if the least he could do was get answers for her then it would be worth it. 

"Alone?" Ricky argued. "Are you sure that it's not you who's making her feel that way? You're the one who took her phone, something I would've _never_ -"

"There you go again," EJ steps backwards, a look of disbelief on his face. "Making everything about your relationship with Nini, and I'm so sick of it." He paused, adjusting his suit jacket then glances over at Ricky's anxious stance. "Here's a news flash, Ricky. You can't always get what you want, and I thought you were smart enough to remember the two _minute_ voicemail you left for my girlfriend about how you shared a moment together." 

Ricky needed to stop lying to himself, and if he got a punch in the nose because of what he was about to say...then so be it. 

"I just can't erase two years of history with Nini with a snap of my fingers, and you know that." Ricky pointed his finger at EJ's chest, taking notice of how his hand began to shake. He was entering careful territory for the both of them, but he couldn't stop himself. He even lets himself forget about the phone, as the conversation shifts. 

"It's like you don't even try." EJ snapped, pushing Ricky's hand away from him. "It's like you don't even want to move on from what you had with her, and it's ridiculous." 

" _Sure_ , just rub it in my face that you stole my girlfriend over the summer," Ricky didn't know where the outburst was coming from, but his voice was getting louder with every step forward until he was toe to toe with EJ's leather shoes. The other guy had everything he's been wanting in life, the feeling of stability when the world he's created feels like it's falling at his feet. Because, he would still be grounded to the best things in life like Nini, to distract him from his parents and his responsibilities in the musical. "Or, that you have the _one_ good thing I had in my life." 

"Did anyone ever tell you that going on break is a _break-up_?" EJ pushes the topic further, reminiscing on how Ricky messed everything up with Nini. 

Ricky mumbled under his breath something along the lines of not wanting to explain himself to someone who would use it to his advantage, and tried to calm himself down. "I wasn't breaking up with her, and I never wanted to." He took a deep breath, kicking the pebbles under his feet. "I just didn't know how to tell her how I felt, and it's always been hard for me."

"She's easy to fall in love with," EJ explained, taking the invisible dagger and shoving it into Ricky's heart until he feels like he can't breathe. "Nini is a great girl, and I'm grateful for your mistake." 

When Ricky doesn't say anything in reply, it was EJ's chance to begin his trail of walking backwards until he was on the sidewalk of the street. He waits until he's past the school gates, to get the last word that makes Ricky clench his fists behind his back. He would even feel a tear form in his right eye, as he blinks it away successfully. 

"It must suck to still love her, isn't that right?" 

* * *

When Ricky got home, he almost tripped over his mother's suitcases that stood next to the front door. He could already feel the lump growing in his throat, looking around his living room to scan over the absence of family photos and the existence of the woman who raised him. He closed the door quickly, not wanting the cold breeze of the night to follow him inside the house when he notices the card that his mother would use to call a taxi driver in the morning. 

She told him the day before that she would be leaving her car behind to pass down to Ricky when he decided to get his license, and he was so tempted to rip the card and throw it into the trash. Or lock the doors and hide the keys so neither of his parents would leave the other, or _him_. Realizing it was a lost battle from the beginning, he throws his set of keys on the kitchen counter and begins to unbutton his dress shirt and begin walking up the stairs of a silent house. 

He's been wanting to take off these stupid clothes ever since Big Red had told him that he had no spare clothes at his house, and he was forced to play video games with a head full of clouded thoughts and a tight shirt. Ricky leans against the stair banister, as he tries to slip off his shoes without undoing the laces. 

That's when he hears it. The faint sound of tapping against his front door and shuffling on the other side, and he freezes. 

Ricky was sure that a robber wouldn't knock before trying to get into his house, and he was sure that he checked his bag before leaving Big Red's house. He takes one shoe off, placing it gently on the floor so it wouldn't thud and he tries to forget about the sound. And it worked only for a few more seconds, when he hears it again. 

" _Ricky._ " It was a whisper, and Ricky felt his heart stop. He doesn't waste another second, walking in small steps to the window--because if he could hear someone whisper on his front porch then he was certain they could hear him walk inside. He's watched too many crime shows to be stupid--and peeks through his white blinds. Ricky only allows a small crack of light from the outside, and he was instantly met with the sight of a sparkly purple dress that fell past a girl's knees. He only has one guess as to who it was at his door, but just to make sure, he looks down at her shoes and he sighs shakily. 

His emotions hit him all at once, as he remembered getting Nini a pair of one-inch black suade heels for her sixteenth birthday back in May. He only pulled it off, the whole surprise present thing because of her parents knew what she wanted most. He closes the blinds again, trying not to let his nerves or misery surrounding such a perfect time get to him in a negative way. 

He unlocks his door, twists the knob as quietly as he could and opens it to reveal the girl he's been desperate to talk to all night. 

"Nini," He says in a soft exhale. "Hey." 

She couldn't see how tightly his hand was wrapped around his door handle, how nervous he was. 

She smiles, even after everything that happened that night. "Hey, what's up." She tries to mock how he used to greet her, but she sniffles back tears and Ricky just knows something wasn't right. She was here for a reason, and she had to get things off her chest before it consumed her. 

"Nini?" Ricky questioned, tilting his head. It doesn't slip over his head that it was almost eleven at night, and she looked like she hadn't changed from getting home from the dance. "Is everything okay? Are your moms' okay?"

When she hesitates to answer, she wipes from under her nose and he looks closely at the dried mascara streaks on the back of her hand. Ricky leaves the door open, as he begins to panic about the possibility of Nini's family being in trouble and retracts his steps inside his house to grab his shoes again--but then, she raises her voice and asks him something in a hoarse voice. 

"Ricky, my moms' are fine." Although, she herself was far from it. "I just need to talk to you, please?" 

"Nini, it's late at night." He points out, even though he would like nothing more. Ricky makes his way over to the door for the second time, and fights the urge to grab her hands and squeeze them so she would stop fidgeting. "We have rehearsals in the morning, remember?" 

"This is important, Ricky." Nini argued, interlocking her hands behind her back with a stern look on her face. She sniffles again, " _You_ said some things to EJ that I just need an explanation for." 

He steps outside, making sure he was stepping on the door mat so he wouldn't dirty the bottom of his socks. He doesn't look away when they suddenly lock eyes, and he could see the pain and confusion written all over her face like a script. It was something he could never practice for, the act of knowing your cues and lines until you get it perfectly or when he loses it and doesn't know where the find it again. Nini was his first real something, and losing her made him feel like how angry Miss Jenn had been for the way he was careless to taking care of his. 

"You heard us?" Ricky asked for clarification, wondering how much she did hear as he closes the door as far as it could go without clicking shut. 

Nini steps back to give them some space, distance between two yearning hearts. 

She combs through the ends of her hair that swopped over her right shoulder in a tight ponytail, "I didn't know what else to do." 

"Nini, how _much_ did you--" 

She cuts him off with her confession, "I just saw you run past me and it only made me think that you must've heard that he was the one to steal my phone, and I didn't want you guys to hurt each other because it's so…" She paused, licking her lips and finishing her statement. " _complicated_."

"I would never hurt him intentionally." 

"And how about the basketball incident at rehearsal?" Nini reminded him, crossing her arms and sighing. 

Ricky shifted on the balls of his feet, looking down at his feet to give him something to look at instead of her soft eyes that would try and pierce their way into his soul when he clears his throat to stop the cracking of his voice. He swallows the lump in his throat from before, "I would never hurt someone that makes you happy, Nini." 

When he looks up again, he averts her gaze and he can't get rid of the frown on his face. The silence between them was making him wish he never said that, because now he was dying to hear how she would respond to that. 

" _Made_ me happy," When Ricky tilts his head in oblivion, she shrugs her shoulders lightly as if he should've known. There was a wooden bench that sat in front of his living room window, it was old and creaked when anybody sat down on it. It took his attention next, because Nini was walking towards it before she explained further. When she sits down, she rests her head on her perched elbows and looks to the side to keep eye contact with him. "We broke up a few days ago, so I don't even know why he's trying so hard. It was his fault." 

Ricky didn't want to stand there awkwardly while she was beginning to confide in him like the friends they were, so he decides to forget about the cold and the gravel that would get stuck beneath his footsteps when he walked over to Nini and sat beside her. When he does, Nini sits up straighter and runs her hands repeatedly on the front of her dress since he was so close to her. It would be normal for any other couple, to be so close where thighs and shoulders touch, but not for two teenagers who almost kissed the week before. 

He tries to cheer her up, "You're a great girl, he knows that." 

(EJ wasn't and will never be wrong about that.) 

"Great?" Nini argued with him while looking down at her lap with her folded hands. "I feel like a mess, Ricky." 

The most beautiful mess he's ever seen, he wished he could be brave enough to admit it to her face. 

Ricky bites the inside of his cheek, until he blurts: "Did you love him back?" 

She didn't hesitate to answer, as she shuffles a little closer and leans into his space as if it was a secret. "I'm not even sure I ever did, not like--" 

"I'm scared of a lot of things, Nini." He cuts her off this time, preparing for a confession of his own. Ricky had been thinking about how he'd tell Nini how he felt for the past three months, ever since she told him and all he could muster was a croak and running away as fast as he could. He's repeated his monologue more than his script for the school musical, but he never thought he would even be trying out for a musical because what Nini said was true before. He didn't like them, yet he'd be in the crowd with her parents and cheering her on when they were together. He wanted to support her always, be by her side for as long as she would allow him. 

"Ricky, I don't need you to explain this right now." She sighed, although her head falls to rest on his shoulder in exhaustion and he reaches for one of her hands and squeezes tightly. She doesn't even try to pull away, because she must know that this feels like it was meant to be. It would always be them against the world. "I know you don't really..." Her voice trails off, as if her heartache was overtaking everything inside and she didn't want to think of their breakup. Or the let down with EJ. 

"I didn't know how to tell you this earlier, but I need to tell you _now_ ," Ricky needed one constant in his life, and he didn't know what he would do without Nini when his mom leaves in the morning. He squeezes her hand tightly, looking down at their interlocked hands and holding back his gasp when she reciprocates the tightness of his grip. "I'm scared of those high railings at the skate park, because I have this irrational fear of my helmet unbuckling while I'm sliding down and I end up as flat as a pancake." It makes her laugh, and she uses her other hand to rub her eyes. 

She stops him and asks, he could feel a lazy smile growing on her face over the material of his shirt. "What are you doing, Ricky?" 

_He had no idea_. 

He just knew he had to go and take the leap of faith, and stay true to his heart and how he feels. 

"I'm scared of my mom leaving my house tomorrow and never looking back," His voice cracks with that confession, glancing towards his front door. "I'm scared of letting Miss Jenn down in the musical because I'm always late and I could barely sing as well as you." Ricky thinks back to their school auditions for the musical a few weeks ago, when EJ would snicker at his talent and the room would be utter silence when he began strumming his guitar. He was trying so hard to make up for his wrongs, to find any excuse to be close to Nini so she would allow him to explain himself. Now, with their hands interlocked and hearts beating in unison, he was afraid he would get stuck in the most crucial part of his speech. 

"Hey," Nini nudges him in the ribs. "You could sing good." 

Ricky could always count on her to make him feel better about his insecurities, and for once, he believed her. 

"Your voice is a _talent_ , Nini." Ricky takes a deep breath, knowing this was it. He shifts his position on the bench, sitting sideways with one leg bent and crossed over the other and takes both of her hands and holds them up. There's a familiar gleam in her eyes that makes him remember the fateful night that ruined everything for them, one of adoration and anticipation that he was, _unlike_ before, ready to face and admit how he loves her. "You remember the night you told me that you," He forces the words out when they get stuck and continued. " _that_ you love me?"

Nini nods, knowing the bittersweet moment he was talking about all too well.

"I was scared, Nini." Ricky explained, his voice shaking. He thinks of his parents, "I was afraid of this, our relationship, not being real because we're young and naïve. I was scared of my mom leaving for the summer to check out a banking position in Chicago and leaving me behind, and I didn't know how to handle losing her and confronting my feelings for you at the same time."

Nini pulls her hands back, a flash of hurt on her face when she scrunches her face. "You thought we weren't real? Ricky, we were together for _over_ a year." 

It wasn't the message he was trying to get forward at all, so he pushes past the nerves that settled deep into his chest and shakes his head back and forth. If only, she had known that he thought of her everyday during the summer and was the best thing to ever happen to him. To stop her from getting up and leaving because of yet another miscommunication between them, he leans forward and cups her face in his hands and brushes his thumb under her eyes. 

He's breathing heavily now, not ever doing this before to get her attention. 

"I would've told you that I loved you." Ricky confessed in a raised yet harsh tone, and once he says it, he can't help but break out into a smile. "I probably loved you even before you realized it, but I couldn't say it out loud. If I said it to you before you left for camp, it would've ruined me if you met EJ and fell for his charm when you couldn't be with me. It would've ruined me if my mom left me, and I didn't have you to talk to when my dad was going through his changing of moods and I had nobody to talk to." 

"And now?" Nini questioned softly, letting a sudden tear slip from the corner of her eye and fall onto his thumb. She sets her hands firmly on his wrists, to keep him grounded and make him feel alive. To make him feel like he hadn't made the biggest mistake in letting them take a break when neither of them wanted to stay away, to let him know that she loves him back. 

"Nini, I want you to know that I'm not scared anymore." Ricky held his breath when she inched closer, when their gazes had been drawn together and he wouldn't dare look at anything else but the rich color of her eyes. "Because, I love you." 

When their lips meet, Nini's arms trailed up his shoulders and hung loosely around his neck as they shared a sweet kiss. He held her face in his hands, his everything was right in front of him as he hooked some pieces of stray hair behind her ears to keep his hands warm with the blush on her cheeks and the happiness that was felt with smiles and close proximity. 

He had everything he was looking for. (Nobody stopped him when he went in for a second kiss, or when he accompanied Nini on her walk home while the held hands and he held her waist as she tried to ride on his skateboard) 

* * *

The first thing that Ricky did in the morning, was check his phone. 

There's multiple text messages from Big Red, Nini, and _even_ Kourtney. 

Although, one notification from Instagram catches his eye first. 

' ** _your close friend, 'itsmenini' just archived one of her old posts. click to view '_**

****He opens the app, and sits down on the edge of his unmade bed and takes a moment to reflect on everything's that's happened in between the time of his birthday and today.

He likes the notification before he lets it play, humming the lyrics--he still couldn't believe he had learned Nini's song to sing for her during auditions--and letting his girlfriend's voice play while he puts on an old pair of sneakers. 

" _From the minute we kissed and my heart skipped a beat_  
 _To the night that we danced, I was swept off my feet_  
 _Sure is every year has to come to an end_  
 _I'd go spinnin' 'round the sun with you again and again and again and again"_

* * * 

Before he leaves for school, Ricky leaves the note he wrote for his mother on top of the taxi driver card and pulls out his phone to text Nini: " _I know we've done this before, but it has to be different now. we know how we feel about each other now, and I'm not scared anymore. I'll see you in a bit, and I want this, how we've changed, to be the start of something new._ " 

The last time he listened to any song from the musical, he wasn't happy. He was hiding behind comfort and neglect of every issue in his life, but now he felt like he was free. Ricky was willing to be open, and let himself hurt over losing his mother and accepting affection from his girlfriend (second times' a charm, right?) and he was on a good path. 

Now, he had a school musical to worry about. 

Somehow, the responsibility didn't feel so bad anymore. 

Ricky would always have Nini to push him further, and he would be right next to her rooting her on instead of clapping in the crowds. 

If Troy and Gabriella would last forever after high school, then he had no doubt that Nini and him would make it just fine.


End file.
